Revelation Space

by Alastair Reynolds

561 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 21, 2020

About the author

I'm Al, I used to be a space scientist, and now I'm a writer, although for a time the two careers ran in parallel. I started off publishing short stories in the British SF magazine Interzone in the early 90s, then eventually branched into novels. I write about a novel a year and try to write a few short stories as well. Some of my books and stories are set in a consistent future named after Revelation Space, the first novel, but I've done a lot of other things as well and I like to keep things fresh between books.

I was born in Wales, but raised in Cornwall, and then spent time in the north of England and Scotland. I moved to the Netherlands to continue my science career and stayed there for a very long time, before eventually returning to Wales.

In my spare time I am a very keen runner, and I also enjoying hill-walking, birdwatching, horse-riding, guitar and model-making. I also dabble with paints now and then. I met my wife in the Netherlands through a mutual interest in climbing and we married back in Wales. We live surrounded by hills, woods and wildlife, and not too much excitement.

Reviews

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read this novel many years ago as well as several other stand-alone novels by Alastair Reynolds but not reading the rest of the Inhibitor Trilogy, I reread this in preparation for reading the following trilogy novels. This first novel in the author’s Revelation Space universe is an excellent space opera with a complex plot and fascinating characters. It involves the scientist Dan Sylveste who is investigating mysterious hidden artifacts called Shrouds, an archaeological story involving an extinct ancient civilization, the Amarantin, complicated by unrest and political coups, a nanotech plague, and the Ultras, who are people who pilot the space ships that travel just below the speed of light. Alastair addresses the speed of light limitation by having spaceships travel at near the speed of light and the crew (the Ultras) using a hibernation-type sleep to endure the decades that pass as they travel. This time effect figures heavily into the story and its resulting effects on the people and the planets they inhabit. Hints slowly reveal the secrets behind the Shrouds, the mysterious death of multiple ancient civilizations, and its cause.

[Kurt Werle · Rating 1 out of 5]

So much world building. And I just didn't care. I made it about 20% through.

I felt like every scoop was 3/4 frosting, 1/8 stuff that might matter, 1/8 stuff that actually mattered. Reading to just scrape off 7/8ths of the content to get at the actual story just is not working for me.

This is the second book of his I've attempted. Moving on.

[Charles Kowalski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent space opera. Excited to read the next one!